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Aralita
Empress Aralita is the primary antagonist. She is the Empress of the Realm of Esperanza, and belongs to a tightly-knit, powerful, influential group of elitist Esperanzan nobles that dominate the country and its policies during her regency. Her plans for the empire seem to involve world conquest, "uniting" every territory around the world under one Esperanzan government, just like it used to be in the days of Helios. Her character color is red. She was a noblewoman and later a powerful military figure before her coronation. She is the adoptive mother of Halos. Etymology Aralita's name is as mysterious as her very being. Finding meaning is difficult; it may well not be her actual name, given that she has no apparent last name (or that the records containing that information were completely destroyed). "Ara" in itself means "altar" in Latin, any structure upon which offerings (which tend to be sacrifices) are made for religious purposes. Given that Aralita is thoroughly religious and makes subtle mentions to "the Altar" on occasion, this seems to be intentional. Ara is also the name of a southern constellation called "The Altar"; in one of the many (predominantly Greek) myths associated with Ara, Ara represents the altar on which Zeus and other gods vowed to defeat the Titans and overthrow the ruler of the universe, Cronus, who had disposed of his father Uranus. The name Aralita also does sound quite phonetically similar to "elitist", hence the eventual, headliner taunt "Aralitist" that gets attributed to her. It also sounds very similar to "Elita", roughly meaning "Chosen One" in Latin. However, as a whole, it could very well be that the name means nothing, and that is the entire point. Personality To many, Aralita is an enigma, even to those that claim to be close to her. She inspires as much fear and vexation as she does respect and adoration, and plenty of controversy besides; the world at large seems torn as to what exactly they should think of her. Aralita is regal, imposing, austere, and indefatigable, the immaculate picture of pure-blood Esperanzan royalty and sophistication. She is also a decisive, cunning leader, an effective, intelligent administrator, and a terrifying warlord, showcasing absolutely minimal concern with collateral damage or civilian casualties when in the thick of war. She displays no remorse with sending people to war, or in starting wars to begin with. Aralita is an elitist, a staunch believer in Esperanzan superiority and the ideal of complete, global Esperanzan control in all areas political, religious, financial, societal, and militaristic. She not only belongs to a group of powerful Esperanzan nobles that secretly clamor for Esperanzan conquest (most of whom are either descended directly from past Esperanzan heroes, royals, and aristocrats), she is their most effective and talented agent. While there were many Esperanzan elitists in the aristocracy long before Aralita's reign, her zealous and haughty ideals have brought many of the more hardline members out of the shadows and into the arena of politics and law. Her ideals inspire as much praise as they do controversy, which can lead to infighting even among the aristocracy. Very few people actually know Aralita. She wears a mask of cool-headed, self-possessed ambivalence and amorality in almost every given situation, rarely letting any of her tempered emotions slip. Her personal likes, dislikes, fears, tastes, quirks, and thoughts in general are a mystery to almost everyone around her; even those that have known her for a considerable length of time, such as the Prince Halos (her adoptive son) or Navarro (one of her chief enforcers), remain distant from her. She is cryptic more often than not, keeping a lot of information to herself or within a tiny sphere of people. She is largely indifferent to her subordinates, relatives, and even her enemies, viewing revolutionary leader Viola as more of a pest than a genuine threat (in stark contrast to Viola herself, who views Aralita as an enormous obstacle and enemy); she only seems to demonstrate a morsel of preference or respect among fellow nobles and royalty, further establishing her elitist, bigoted nature. Secrecy is Aralita's forte: her public persona doesn't seem to be any different from her private persona, which made it incredibly easy (and natural) for her to adopt a cult of personality within Esperanza. Aralita is a zealous Phoenician, which is a common trait among hardcore Esperanzans. She follows and enforces many of the practices within the church, will read passages every now and then, and generally looks down on those that aren't members of the religion, viewing gentiles as misguided at best or corrupt heretics at worst, worthy of persecution. As a military commander, however, Aralita demonstrates a surprising amount of flexibility, albeit only if it personally benefits her. She has been shown willing to use bribery - offering nominal positions of power to more venal people instead of wasting resources by fighting them - and even diplomacy to resolve a situation, as was the case with the Esperanzan-Coralman War. She demonstrates far more tact and strategical capability than the previous Emperor of Esperanza, justified given her military upbringing; she even uses facts and media coverage to her advantage, the fact that Faust started the war between Separa and Esperanza one of her strongest arguments against him. However, even in her most diplomatic moments, it's clear that Aralita exercises these options if they have benefits to Esperanza. She certainly doesn't do it out of a desire for peace, given her apparent desires to conquer the world in the name of Esperanzan superiority.